Carlos Rodon was ineffective and the Yankees offense could not get going as they fell 7-2 to the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on Friday night.
Takeaways
-The struggling Yankees offense came out of the gates on fire in the first inning. After a Gleyber Torres leadoff single, Giancarlo Stanton launched a two-run shot to give the Yanks an early lead.
The Yankees offense would fall asleep for most of the game after the first. Although they scattered some hits and base runners, they couldn’t come up with the clutch hit. Stanton would hit a double when he popped up a pitch that dropped between the first baseman and left fielder to lead off the sixth inning, but the Yanks couldn’t bring him in.
In the ninth, with men on first and third, a pinch-hitting Billy McKinney struck out and Anthony Volpe lined out to end the game.
The Yankees finished 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left six on base.
– Carlos Rodon was on the mound for his second Yankees start. In his first start, the lefty went 5.1 innings, giving up just two runs on four hits against the Cubs on July 7, and he would have a hard time getting through this outing with limited damage.
Rodon would go through the Rockies lineup in order in the first two innings, but he didn’t have swing-and-miss stuff, instead getting the Colorado hitters to ground and fly out.
In the third inning, Rodon’s location went missing as he walked the leadoff man and would have three wild pitches in the inning. The big blow was a two-out, two-run double by Brenton Doyle that put the Rockies in front, 3-2.
The lefty would give up a solo shot to Randal Grichuk, who now has 18 home runs against the Yanks since 2018 — tied with Rafael Devers — to put the Rockies up 4-2 in the fourth.
Rodon pitched five innings (88 pitches/55 strikes) giving up four runs on four hits, two walks while striking out six.
– Michael King came on in relief of Rodon, and after pitching a clean sixth inning, Chris Bryant launched a two-out, two-run shot over the left-field wall to put the Rockies up 6-2.
Albert Abreu had the eighth and after getting the first two outs, he gave up a solo shot to Nolan Jones to put the Rockies up 7-2.
– DJ LeMahieu entered the series hitting just .220 but he was hitting at Coors Field where he has had a lot of success in his career. Entering Friday, the former Rockie has 1,938 plate appearances at Coors and is slashing .329/.387/.447 with a .834 OPS at that stadium. He’s hit 21 home runs at Coors — second to Yankee Stadium — and has 197 RBI in Colorado, the most he has in any stadium in his career.
On Friday, he picked up a single in his first and last at-bat, finishing 2-for-4.
– Friday began the Sean Casey era as hitting coach and while there were some good swings in the game, the offense just couldn’t break through.
Stanton and Torres had good days at the plate, though, as the second baseman went 3-for-4 with a run scored and the slugger finished 2-for-4 with a double and a home run.
Anthony Rizzo finished 1-for-4 with a strikeout while Josh Donaldson was hitless in four at-bats with a walk and a strikeout of his own, but did hit the ball hard twice. Volpe was also held hitless in his four at-bats, but he hit the ball hard twice, including a liner to left field that Jones had to jump and reach over his head to make the final out.
Highlights
What’s Next
The Yankees continue their three-game series with the Rockies on Saturday in Colorado. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 pm.
Clarke Schmidt (4-6, 4.40 ERA) is slated to take the mound for the Yanks. The Rockies will have Connor Seabold (1-6, 6.65 ERA) on the bump.